Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Chili Lime Basmati Rice

Recently, Mr. Vittles' aunt Michelle Vittles was kind enough to share a recipe from one of her favorite cookbooks called "Lemon Spiked Basmati Rice."

This recipe sounded awesome, but I can't help but get a little nervous when I see "rice" in the title of a recipe.

Now here's a confession that's probably more embarrassing to me than being afraid of moths (which are vile creatures and I don't know why everyone isn't afraid of them?)

I can't cook rice.

I don't know what it is about the preparation of this silly grain that eludes me after all my time in the kitchen. But somehow it either comes out too wet, or gets stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Or then there's my favorite scenario- where it comes out too wet ... and then I get impatient because it was timed perfectly with the rest of my meal which is now getting cold ... so I blast the heat to speed things up and end up burning it to the bottom of the pan.

Argh!!

I've tried rice all different ways, with all different cooking times and ratios of rice to water, yet somehow it comes out wrong 99% of the time.

Nonetheless, I read on when I got this recipe and saw something miraculous - while the initial cooking is done on the stove, the rice itself is cooked in the oven.

This I had never tried.

So of course I had to give it a shot. But I was making it to go with a Mexican dish, so I decided to switch things up a bit and use lime instead of lemon, chili powder instead of cayenne, and add some fresh cilantro.

I even cut the onions!

And let me tell you something.

I can do this. It's amazing. And it's delicious.

Chili Lime Basmati Rice

1 C. basmati rice, rinsed & well drained (uncooked)

3 T. butter

3/4 C. onion, diced to about 1/4"

1 1/2 t. minced garlic

1/2 t. chili powder

1 T. fresh lime juice

1 1 /2 t. minced lime zest

2 T. cream (or milk)

1 1/4 t. salt

1 T. chopped fresh cilantro

2 T. thinly sliced chives

Preheat oven 375 degrees.

Place well drained rice in a 1 1/2 quart baking dish.

Melt the butter in a nonstick or heavy saucepan. Add onion & saute over medium heat until soft, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.

Well what do you know... people have told me that they made this but no one ever mentioned I forgot the water! It's 1 1/2 C, thank you for bringing that to my attention and I'm sorry I didn't notice it sooner!

RICE: This little gadget is my second favorite purchase of my life. No fuss no muss or however that goes. http://www.target.com/p/nordicware-rice-cooker/-/A-694598 $6.00 @ Target. I was raised on rice since I was about 6 months old. Ive tried plenty of rice cookers. Blah! I stumbled upon this little bad boy and have been in heaven for few years now. The only thing to learn is your own microwave. The cook time varies because all microwaves are different. Mine is usually 10-11 minutes and I have wonderful fluffy rice. I hope you enjoy. oh and I have a back up in the closet just incase.

I made this for dinner tonight and loved it! After making it, I thought that it needed salt. I looked and found salt in the ingredient list, but noticed that it was not found in the directions. Therefore I failed to put it in my rice before baking. I thought you might want to list it in your directions. I went ahead and added the salt before we ate it. I will definitely be making this again!

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